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f-IARRIET SKINNER McROBERTS 




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A CHRISTIAN CRIETH 
UNTO ISRAEL 

TWELVE SONGS 



BY 
HARRIET SKINNER McROBERTS 



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NEW YORK 

1921 



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Copyright. 1921 

by 
H. S. McRoberts 

Printed in the United States of America 



OCT 13 \^2\ 




Q)C[.A624805 



TO 

MY SISTER 

I. E. S. 



PROEM 

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 

Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have 

driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; 

and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause 

them to dwell safely : 

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God : 

And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may 

fear Me for ever. — Jer. 32: 37, 38, 39. 



And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon 
thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, 
and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither 
the Lord thy God hath driven thee. 

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey His 
voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy 
children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 

That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have 
compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from 
all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee 
— Deut. 30: I, 2, 3. 



Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and His 
arm shall rule for Him: behold. His reward is with Him, and His 
work before Him. — Isaiah 40: 10. 



And He shall speak peace unto the nations: and His 
dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even 
to the ends of the earth. — Zech. 9: 10. 



And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine 
hands? Then He shall answer. Those with which I was wounded 
in the house of my friends. — Zech. 13: 6. 



Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice 
with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 

The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out 
thine enemy, the Kmg of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst 
of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. — Zeph. 3 : 14, 15. 



For . . . unto us a Son is given : and the government shall be 
upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince 
of Peace. 

Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no 
end, UPON the throne of david, and upon His kingdom, to order 
it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from 
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will 
perform this. — Isaiah 9: 6 7. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Salutation ....... i 

"Shake Thyself from the Dust" . . 2 

His Handiwork ...... 4 

"The Valley of Vision" .... 5 

"For thy Maker is thine Husband" . . 7 

Old Times ....... 9 

"The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion" . 10 

Apologia . . , . . .12 

Palestine ....... 14 

The Troubadour ...... 16 

The Holy City ...... 19 

"His Feet Shall Stand in that Day upon 
the Mount of Olives" . . . .21 



Vll 



A CHRISTIAN CRIETH UNTO 
ISRAEL 

I 

SALUTATION 

Thou art the stranger, Israel, within our gates; 
Sit thou, and rest thee with us, sipping our pota- 
tions; 
Share thou our bread and hearth, our work and our 
estates. 
Until thou shalt return to Beulah, head of nations. 



II 

"SHAKE THYSELF FROM THE DUST" 

(Isaiah 52 : 2) 



Call thy young men and thine ancients, 

Summon thy poets and seers, 
Bid them to rouse from the torpor 

That muffles their souls through the years. 



Thy poets, enkindled at Horeb, 

Chirp loudly of western delights, 
Make cause with the sins of the nations. 

And prate of "New Canaan" and " Rights." 
O, Israel, bid them relinquish 

These blasphemous, alien wrongs. 
And fall on their knees to Jehovah, 

And praise Him with fire cleansed songs. 



"SHAKE THYSELF FROM THE DUST" 3 

III 

Thy seers have grown modern and prattling; 

Their counsel is shaded and thin; 
Their hearts are obese, and their tattling 

Is mainly of larder and bin. 
Cry out to them, Daughter of Zion, 

To seize off their shoes where they stand; 
The earth and the sun and Orion 

Proclaim God in every land. 
But the Flame and the Voice in the mountain 

Tell Israel God's oath will stand. 

IV 

Call quickly thy singers and masters, 

And bid them repent and repent; 
The God of thy pain and disasters 

Is also thy God of content. 
The Mercy-seat waiteth thy kneeling, 

The Presence hath mercy at hand; 
Prepare with thy tears His revealing; 

He promised thee. Who shall withstand! 



in 

HIS HANDIWORK 

Dark stranger, sweet, beguiling. 
Thy youth defies the years. 

God made thy lips for smiling; 
He made thine eyes for tears. 



IV 

THE VALLEY OF VISION 

(Isaiah 22:1) 



Mid the rush of an Occident city, 
The crash and the din and the roar, 

Thou wali<est, undreaming our pity 
Who know where thou walkedst before. 



Thine head is held high in thy beauty, 

Thou walkest with orient grace; 
Thy mind is devising thy duty; 

An earnestness lighteth thy face. 

Ill 

Concerned are thy thoughts with the lateness 
Of time; or the task of the hour? 

Or dost thou hark back to thy greatness. 
When God was thy strength and thy power? 

5 



"THE VALLEY OF VISION" 

IV 

Dost marvel that thou wast His called one; 

To tell out His love to the world? 
His promises stand; He recalled none; 

His banner o'er thee was ne'er furled. 



But thou, hast thou faithfully spoken 
And told of His might to thy friends? 

What witness, what message, what token, 
Art thou bearing to the earth's ends? 

VI 

O, Israel, tasks are but fleeting; 

Thy soul hath eternal affairs. 
Jehovah touched thee in His greeting; 

And thou art content with despairs. 

VII 

Hast thou then forgotten to-morrow; 

Thy city, thy kingdom, the Word; 
Thy certain exchanging of sorrow. 

For glory and home and thy Lord? 



"FOR THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND" 

(Isaiah 54:5) 

Thou wandering, heartsick, beautiful wife, 

Thy pain is grievous, thy wrongs are rife; 

Thy feet are bleeding, thy flesh is bruised, 

Thy lovely self hath been cruelly used. 

Tormentors, deadly and hell-inspired, 

Have racked thee, wrung thee, and required 

Thy strength, thy treasure, thine infants' cries, 

To slake their hearts' monstrosities. 

But thy cause lies deeper than murderers' glee; 

It lies between thine Husband and thee. 

The day is coming when thou shalt return 

To the land where thy hearth fires always shall burn. 

Sweet, He will come for thee; 
Sweet, He will fly to thee. 
Open thine heart to His old, old love! 
Hard thou hast been to Him, 
7 



8 "FOR THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND" 

Bent not to own to Him, 
But He will come for thee 
Who art His dove. 

He will gather thee up in His strong fond arms, 
Shielding thy form from earth's hideous harms; 

Whispering low. 

Whispering low, 
Soothing thine heart from its latter alarms. 
Bearing thee swiftly across the wide plain; 
Steering thee safely across the great sea; 
Back from the earth's farthest reach and demesne, 
He will convey thee, sweet; He, only He. 

He will actuate the way: 

Horse and saddle. 

Boat and paddle. 
Eastern camel, northern sleigh; 
Southern skiff and light canoe. 
Plying out from green bayou; 
Western motor, fastest train, 
Man o' war and aeroplane. 

This He shall order, accomplish in truth, 
For His great love of thee, Wife of His truth. 



VI 

OLD TIMES 



Wert thou, then, a young rebellant wife; 

Lightning quick at loving, 
Lightning quick at strife, 
Gifted, proud, repellant, radiant wife? 



Did thy youth excise thy mighty Lord; 

Petulantly turning 
From His Word; 
Treating with defiance thy great Lord? 

Ill 

Who can be as merciless as youth; 
Who can reap such bitter, bitter ruth! 
Tears? Ah, sad has been thy roaming; 
Heaven on earth will be thy homing. 

9 



VII 
THE REDEEMER SHALL COME TO ZION" 

(Isaiah 59 : 20) 



If one great day, O princess, there should burst across 
the sky 

From east to west that flaming light which you ex- 
pect, and 1, 

(For we have read the Oracles of God Who cannot lie;) 



And swiftly all the firmament should lift aside her 

blue, 
And host on host of shining figures sweep into our view, 
A coming company, resplendent, and ineffable of hue; 

III 

(If I were there, who should not be, 
For otherwhere shall Christian be;) 



"THE REDEEMER SHALL COME TO ZION" ii 

IV 

We two should fall upon our knees in rapture, souls 
elate, 

Aware that when we dared look up to brilliance, con- 
summate, 

We should behold a Person in the midst of God's 
estate. 



And soon God's grace would bid us look, and, kneeling 

side by side. 
Our gaze should greet Messiah, King, Redeemer, 

glorified ; 
His face with Jewish lineaments, and pierced hands 

and side. 



VIII 
APOLOGIA 

What shames were done thee, what despite 

Was offered thee in bygone years; 
What crimes were conjured in that night. 

The grim "Dark Ages," black with fears! 

In every time and every fashion 

Thou hast been hurt by guilty hands, 
When men of dark reptilian passion 

Have sought thee out in hateful bands. 
(Behold the morn when each at Judgment stands!) 

But self-styled Christians, hard and cruel, 
Dared feed thee to the rack and flame; 

Consigning thee as human fuel 
In His dear Name; in His dear Name 

Who loved thee well enough to die for thee; 

(Who loved me well enough to die for me). 

These horrid blasphemies congeal the heart. 
And every humble Christian in the earth 
Declares with trumpet voice to Israel 

12 



APOLOGIA 13 

That all who dealt thee pang and pain and death 
In Christ's great Name, were hideous traitors, fell. 

Their venoms shall be every one reviewed, 

(Thy wounds, thy moans, thy gurgling deathly cries) 

When He returns to take His Kingly throne; 

Messiah, Christ, God's great Beatitude. 

The opened books will greet His searching eyes; 

And then, fair princess, then shall He alone 

Avenge His loved, His Israel, His own. 



IX 
PALESTINE 

I 

There is a land, 

A little land 
If meted by man's measure; 

Where thorn and rust 

And desert dust 
Comprise its troven treasure. 

II 

But of that land, 

That little land, 
The Lord of hosts hath spoken; 
• He hath esteemed 

For His redeemed 
This country His own token. 

Ill 

In that great age 
To come, God's sage 
Declareth by the Spirit, 
14 



PALESTINE 15 

That that small land 
Shall burst the band 
Of sin. Let faithless jeer it! 

IV 

Instead of thorn, 

Messiah's morn 
Shall see the fir and flower; 

And latter rains 

Shall drench the plains, 
And fruit shall sing God's power. 



There is a land, 

A little land 
Where One walked in His sorrow; 

But every song 

Of earth's great throng, 
Shall hail Him King to-morrow. 



X 

THE TROUBADOUR 

I 

Israel, I sing to thee in love; 

Israel, I sing to thee of love; 

And always, only, of thy Lover. 

To thy low wide-flung casement I have come. 

And seem to read consent in that bowed head. 

To twang and pipe in tender oldenwise, 

At twilight. Hear me then, while evening skies 

Draw cooling veils across the clover. 

II 

Long time, the world hath cried to thee thy sins; 
But who am 1, and who is he that wins 
A judge's office over thee? 

Thy sins are grievous, black, from hardened heart; 
My sins are grievous, black from hardened heart; 
Our God is Judge; He shall decree. 

i6 



THE TROUBADOUR 17 

III 

I sing in praise of thine old matchless souls; 
That giver of God's Law, whose breath extolls 
The majesty of God, His might; 
That deathless prophet, cleansed with altar fire; 
Those three at Gentile courts who might expire, 
But praised God truly, day and night. 

IV 

1 sing thy later God-taught, God-swept souls. 
Who shall reign with the Son until earth rolls 
Her cloak, and share His kingly part: 
That Tarsus bigot, versed and erudite. 
Who stoned a praying few with furied might. 
Until a Voice rang through his heart. 



I sing thy fisherman at Pentecost, 

Who spake out greater truths and greater cost; 

And also one beloved by Him, 

Who saw on Patmos God's eternal plan: 

The things that were, that are, that shall be, unto man; 

Beloved of Him, beloved of Him. 



i8 THE TROUBADOUR 

VI 

I sing thy folk that followed and believed; 
I sing thy virgin who God's Son conceived; 
1 sing thy shepherds on their knees; 
Thy rich young ruler, seeking life and light, 
Receiving vastest truth at quiet night; 
Thy women with their ministries. 

VII 

But, last and first, I sing of Him Who died. 

Who gave Himself to be the Crucified. 

Behold the offered Lamb of God! 

His blood atoneth for thy sins and mine, 

His blood atoneth for my sins and thine. 

If we but sprinkle it upon the posts 

Of our poor hearts, and join the ransomed hosts. 



XI 
THE HOLY CITY 



Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

We know thy glorious past; 
We know thy fateful present 

In a dusk that shall not last; 
We know thy radiant future, 

When God's dial marks the hour; 
And thou shalt be the regnant queen, 

The city of His power. 

II 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

The marts of every land 
Shall pour their wares into thy stores. 

And art shall seek thy hand. 
Grave science and sweet laughter 

Shall cross seas to walk thy streets; 
The nations shall go forth to thee, 

And all the nations' fleets. 
19 



20 THE HOLY CITY 

III 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

The time in on the way 
When queen of cities thou shalt reign. 

And all the earth shall say: 

"O, come, let us go unto her, 

Our fond allegiance tell; 
Messiah hath come back to rule, 

The King of Israel." 



XII 

HIS FEET SHALL STAND IN THAT DAY 
UPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES" 

(Zechariah 14:4) 



Thou beautiful eastern princess, 
Who walkest through every land. 

With head bent low at thine ingress, 
But raised at the touch of a hand 
(A friendly, considerate, hand) ; 



A miracle, thou, to the seeing; 

God's power in Thee is inwrought; 
Thy strength and thy separate being 

Reveal His o'ershadowing thought; 

His loving, omnipotent, thought. 

Ill 

A prophecy, thou, to the kneeling 
Who look for their Saviour's return. 



22 "THE MOUNT OF OLIVES" 

He Cometh with balm for thy healing; 
For thee, His first love, He doth yearn; 
Sweet princess, for thee He doth yearn. 

IV 

He Cometh to raise thee to splendor, 
To banish thy pain and thy grief; 

To soothe away all thy long weeping. 
In love that shalt win thy belief; 
Thy late but exalted belief. 



At hour of thy sure extirpation, 

He cometh with might from God's throne; 

He cometh to vanquish the nations 
That seek to destroy thee, His own, 
His long loved and long cherished own. 

VI 

Then thou shalt discover His wound prints, 
And mourn in the heart of thine heart. 

That thou didst not honor His province 
In days when He suffered, apart; 
The Just for the unjust, apart. 



"THE MOUNT OF OLIVES" 23 

VII 

But when thou perceivest His power. 
Thy soul shalt sing out in surprise; 

" My Lord, and my Love of the bower, 
A veil hath been swept from mine eyes, 
My raptured and worshipping eyes." 

VIII 

Thou royal, mysterious, maiden, 

An exile from home over long. 
Thine heart hath been cruelly laden, 

But He Cometh soon with a song; 

Thy King to His love, with a song. 



